The role of US and Iran in Afghanistan security after 2009

Due to its geopolitical geography, Afghanistan has been subjected to long-term indefinite invasions throughout history and has attracted the attention of its global forces. Afghanistan is the epicenter of the Asian continent in terms of geography, and the silk route, which has long been considered a commercial route, also passes through Afghanistan. Between 1989, when the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan ended, and 2001, when the United States intervened to overthrow the Taliban, there was a violent civil war. Along with global powers such as the US and the Soviet Union (and later Russia), some regional powers have been involved in this civil war by supporting the parties to the civil war in various ways. One of these regional powers is Iran. Although the US and Saudi Arabia's attitude towards the Taliban caused a partial and temporary softening in their relations with Iran, the overthrow of the Taliban as a result of the US military intervention and the presence of US military bases in Afghanistan is a serious threat for Iran. It is clear that the formation of the new Afghan administration in the initiatives of the United States and its allies was met with dislike by Iran. In addition, Iran was deactivated in military intervention against the Taliban and has cooperated with Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. As a result, Iran's strategic cooperation with the Central Asian countries towards Afghanistan has been damaged. In its foreign policy towards Afghanistan, Iran preferred silence by evaluating the internal political developments within itself and the general political situation in the world, as it was one of the countries that benefited the most from the events against the operation against the Taliban regime. However, Iran has become more and more uncomfortable with the fact that the US has settled right next to it and has started to change its policy towards Afghanistan. Iran sees Afghanistan as a natural sphere of influence and attaches importance to this country in terms of its national security and commercial objectives. On the other hand, Iran followed sectarian policies for a certain period in the post-9/11 affairs of Afghanistan and supported the Shiites and especially the Hazaras, whom they regarded as natural allies, in Afghanistan's politics. The most important indicator of this is the political power that the Hazaras gained in Afghanistan after 2001. The Hazaras have never achieved such a political power in the country in any previous period. The most important architecture of this is undoubtedly the administration of Tehran.